Ramdev ji, watch me go!

This is definitely much needed given my son's hyperactivity, but more than that it's just hilarious! Teta (my father in law) spent a few days with us recently, and Vir enjoyed that very much. He would wake up asking for "Kocha" (Vir's name for his granddad) and even now tends to run off to the guest room looking for him when he wakes up. He would watch teta do his Prananyam exercises (yogic breathing exercises popularized by the guru in the title) with much interest. Luckily, that paid off, because now when you ask him how Pranayam is done, he starts breathing out strongly and shakes his entire torso and head up and down with a huge grin on his face. I think Ramdevji would have a few tips for him on his technique, but noone can doubt his enthusiasm for this boring old form of exercise! Jogged by this, I have even taught him how to meditate. On request, he now closes his eyes for all of two seconds and hums "mmmmmmm." Thus calmed, he then proceeds to jump off the bed, on to Baggdu's head and off to throw a toy from the balcony.

Killer Looks

Teta came back from a trip to the US last night and one of the presents he got for Vir is a really cute red night suit with a dog print on it. The shirt has a big dog that says "I'm the boss around here" on it. Of course, getting Vir dressed after his bath was completely hassle free today, since the excitement of wearing something "new new" was just too much to let anything come in the way of it. I wish I could have taken a picture of that face - so confident and yet shy in the knowledge that there are very few others around here who can claim to be this dashing, and certainly, no one around here who can claim to have nicer night wear. He strutted around on the bed for a while so teta and Vijay could fully appreciate his style, and broke out in spontaneous self applause, which, of course, we all had to join in (or risk severe pointed looks from the man himself). I honestly don't know how he has fallen asleep today with all this excitement though I'm pretty sure there are going to be some sweet dreams tonight!

Can this really be true?!

Vir is showing an interest in golf! If you know my husband's golf mania, you can imagine how elated and hopeful this is making him. I think he's already dreaming about sunday afternoon golf lessons, choosing junior size golf sets, dinner table discussions about the perfect swing and how to improve his short game, cheering Vir on as he plays his first tournament, and living off Vir's massive earnings as a pro golfer as we travel to exotic locations and walk along beautifully manicured golf courses sipping our glasses of chilled white wine and talking to his fans about how this all started.

The humble beginning of this dream is that Vir has learnt to copy Vijay's mock golf swing - which is one of those things that men seem to do whenever they're standing around looking for something to do with their arms...if it's not a golf swing, it's a tennis one...or a mock cricket shot with a non existent bat. Anyway, Vijay was mock swinging away while he was waiting for dinner when Vir came in with his rendition of the swing. I have to admit, it's really good - the arms go all the way back, the swing is clean and goes all the way, he doesn't move his head, and if there was a ball around, I'm pretty sure his eyes would be on it!

Personally, I think golf is really boring for kids...they need to play something that makes them run around and sweat, not walk leisurely from one hole to the other and take a swing once in a while. (Cringe away dad and Vijay, you can't make me change my mind.) I do hope he takes to sports as he gets older and though I'd much rather it be tennis or squash, I'll live if it's golf. After all, I never can resist a glass of chilled white wine:-)

There are so many things that Vir does in a day that make me shake my head in frustration (to put it mildly), but when he falls asleep at the end of the day, I look at him and can't help but feel a little guilty for being even a little bit mad at him for what he puts me through in the day. He doesn't know he makes me tired and worried running after him all day trying to keep him from hurting himself or from breaking things in the house. He doesn't know I worry about him not eating, and how that will affect his health. He doesn't know that I'm sometimes frustrated about having left my job so I could look after him better and spend time with him. He doesn't know I try to discipline him so he grows up into a well-behaved little kid who can adjust well into this world. He just wants to do his thing and not have me cramp his style (don't we all?) So, I just want to put on record (you know, in case God reads my blog), that I'm super thankful that I get to look into my healthy and happy child's eyes in the morning when he wakes up and gives me that smile that is only his and that in a million years, I wouldn't trade this for anything else.

Among all the things that he does that frustrate me are also all the things that I cherish the most...the little expressions and gestures and habits that will surely be replaced by new ones as he grows up but that we'll love to look back and smile upon when he's off to college or married with kids of his own (yikes, how old am I to be saying things like this!!!?). Like when he shakes his head in a come-on-you-know-you-have-to way and says "car...car...car...car" every morning, hoping that today is one of those days when he gets bundled in his car seat and taken to some mundane errand with his mom because what can be better than that. Or when he checks to see if his bottle of milk is leaking before he takes a sip by tilting it ever so carefully and then screams "Mamta...mamataaaaaa" to get her to fix it whether or not it's actually leaking. Or when he comes running up to me with his urgent song requests for the monkey song ("ooo-aaaa-ooo-aa") or the fishy song ("pish pish") or Old MacDonald's Farm ("eieieieie"). Of course, he never listens to any of these till the end because the next request takes over as soon as I start with the first one. Or when he suddenly needs to enquire about everyone's whereabouts and starts listing them out insisting I tell him what's going on with everyone. "Nana?" "He's in Dun." "Nani?" "She's in Dun." "Papa?" "He's in office." "Didi?" "She's sleeping. And so should you be." Then there's his endless fascination with Baggdu - especially all the sensitive parts of Baggdu that are just asking to be pulled by his tiny but surprisingly strong hands. He says he's just doing "paari" as he's petting the dog, but before you know it there's a tail being pulled or an eye being poked. Of course, he always apologizes to the dog by putting his hands on his ears and bending all the way to Baggdu's head solemnly.

Actually, as I'm typing, I'm beginning to see that this could take a really long time. And when I think I'm done, he'll wake up tomorrow morning and do something completely new that I'll need to add to my list. Something that I'll cherish just as much, no matter how much you hear me complaining. God, if you're reading, thank you and please ignore the whining!

Independence

If you've ever been to our house and tried to work our TV, I totally understand your pain. You have to work to get your TV viewing time in this household. It's a really old set that doesn't even have a working remote anymore. You have to use the power switch on the TV - press it in just the right way at least twice to get the TV on. Then, to get to the cable channel you have to press the tiny, almost invisible TV/AV button among some other tiny and invisible buttons not once but twice before you see any moving pictures on the screen.

This morning, I was sitting on the bed with my computer, when Vir walked in and announced, "Cartoo."
"Cartoon, my left foot, my friend, I thought to myself. I'm your mother and I'm not going to let you watch TV so early in the morning. Or at all. Ever. Because TV isn't good for you. It's bad for your eyes, and it will stunt your intellectual development."
"No problem," thinks my friend to himself. "It looks like she doesn't want to make the effort right now." Then, he walks over to the TV, presses the power button in just the right way himself, locates the TV/AV button and presses that - twice - and looks up at me and beams as he says triumphantly - "Cartoooo."

Seems so long ago...

I haven't been able to get to this space for a while, since my uncle hasn't been well, and all of us have been with him. He's better now, and I'm home today after several days of being in the hospital. I discovered Vir's mostly blank baby book that I've been meaning to fill up for a long time, and decided that now was as good a time as any. So, finally, I have it almost done except for the spaces for pictures that still need to go in there. I also discovered a diary I had written for him the first days after he was born. It felt really funny to go through it today, especially since I had written it in the voice of Vir. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but it sounds fairly cheesy now. I'm sure Vir will have a laugh when he reads it when he's older. Here are a few entries from his first few days.

30th Jan 2007, 8:00 a.m: It's almost time for me to be out into the world. My mom, dad, nana, nani, aita, and koka are all here waiting. Well, nana is on the train on his way over. He will meet mum in hospital, where I plan to be born.

11:00 a.m: Mum is in hospital. The doctor is trying to decide whether to induce me to come out. Mom is praying that they do. I think she got pretty mad for a while there when the doctor said she might have to wait another week. Don't worry mum, I'm on my way.

12:30 p.m: They started the induction. This is going to be quite a ride!

11:35 p.m: I don't feel so good. Mum doesn't feel so good either. The doctor has decided to do an emergency C-section to bring me into the world. Mum is happy. Today is my dad's birthday so she's hoping I'm born today - then we can share our celebrations every year. I think God has slightly different plans though.

31st Jan 2007, 12:04 a.m: Wow! So this is what the world is like. I'm finally here. And that's my mum! "Open your eyes and meet your son" says the doctor to her. "Do you have a name for him?" "Yes," says my mom proudly, "his name is Vir."

12:15 a.m: The nurse has brought me out to meet my family. That's my dad! I know his voice. And these are all my grandparents. They seem pretty thrilled to see me. I don't have much time with them though...I have to go to a nursery tonight so mum can rest. I get to see them all in the morning. Yay!

11:00 a.m: Everyone came over - dad, nana, aita, and koka. They all made tonnes of cooing sounds at me and took a lot of pictures. Something tells me I should get used to this. Spent the rest of the day sleeping and waking up occasionally for some food. I got pretty hungry late at night and had to be given more of that artificial milk stuff. That doesn't taste as good but made me feel better.

A lot, and I mean a lot, of people came to see us in the evening. I seem to be pretty popular already. And I'm all of a day old!

2nd Feb, 2007, 11:a.m: Looks like I can go home today. The doc came in this morning and told mom she was all set to leave. I can't wait to see home...

4:00 p.m: All set. My dad brought the car to the front of the hospital and I stepped out, for the first time ever, into the world. It's a lovely day with a clear blue sky that I looked up at for the first time. I think I'm going to like this life.

5:30 p.m: I'm home! Everyone is here...even Baggdu. He's so excited to see mum that I don't think he's even noticed me. Aita has some prasad from a mandir she went to for me. She said a small prayer as we came in.

3rd Feb: I'm settling in well. I spent all evening yesterday and all of today just sleeping and eating really. Eating is proving to be a bit of a problem since I'm always hungry.

4th Feb 2007: Koka comes into my room once in a while to say hello. He loves to just watch me. I try to look back at him and wave my arms and hands a little bit for him. He loves that. All the grown ups seems endlessly entertained by the small things I do.

7th Feb 2007: I had my first outing today. I went to meet the doctor, who seemed nice until he pricked me with a sharp needle lots of times. He needed my blood for some tests. Mum and dad were around when he did that, and seemed quite worried. When mum told koka about this later, he said, "Don't worry. These are some lessons he's learning about life." What does he know?

8th Feb 2007: Aita and Koka have to go back to Guwahati. They don't want to but they have to. Maybe this is another one of those life's lessons Koka keeps talking about. He also has something else he likes to say..."the key to all this is positive thinking!"

9th Feb 2007: This morning, I had a photo session with aita and koka. Koka wanted some pictures with me - awake. That was the tough part. After several tries, mum managed to get one with me yawning, and one with my eyes open.

There are lots more from his first two months that are pretty cheesily entertaining. I'm just glad I have a record of all this...although I'll always remember what it felt like to finally have him and hold him, I had already forgotten some of the details in this diary and the early posts of this blog. After several busy and tense days, an afternoon spent remembering the early days of this brat was really refreshing! I'm back to this blog with renewed energy to record all the little things and big things that make life with Vir so great (and also excrutiatingly frustrating!)

Caught!

Climbed on a chair to get to the dining table and proceeded to lick the frosting off one of the pastries on the plate!
Does he look even remotely guilty?!